Information processing apparatus and computer readable storage medium for remotely driving vehicles

ABSTRACT

An information processing apparatus is provided. The information processing apparatus includes: an equipment information acquiring unit that acquires first equipment information indicating equipment of a remotely driven vehicle which is to be remotely driven; an equipment information comparing unit that compares the first equipment information with second equipment information indicating equipment of a remotely driving apparatus that is to remotely drive the remotely driven vehicle; and a display control unit that causes information based on a result of the comparison by the equipment information comparing unit to be displayed.

The contents of the following Japanese patent application are incorporated herein by reference: NO. 2018-060634 filed on Mar. 27, 2018.

BACKGROUND 1. Technical Field

The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, and a computer readable storage medium.

2. Related Art

Techniques for an electrically powered vehicle to remotely drive other vehicles or for a remotely driving apparatus for remote driving to remotely drive vehicles are known (see Patent Literatures 1, 2, for example).

PRIOR ART LITERATURES Patent Literatures

[Patent Literature 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2000-311299

[Patent Literature 2] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-206218

It is desirable to provide a technique that allows remote driver to easily grasp a correspondence between equipment of a remotely driven vehicle and equipment of a remotely driving apparatus.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates an exemplary remote driving system 10.

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates an exemplary functional configuration of a remotely driven vehicle 400.

FIG. 3 schematically illustrates an exemplary remote driving facility 200.

FIG. 4 schematically illustrates an exemplary functional configuration of a remotely driving vehicle 300.

FIG. 5 schematically illustrates an exemplary functional configuration of a remote driving managing apparatus 100.

FIG. 6 schematically illustrates exemplary correspondence information 500.

FIG. 7 schematically illustrates exemplary manipulation screen information 600.

FIG. 8 schematically illustrates an exemplary functional configuration of a control apparatus 220.

FIG. 9 schematically illustrates an exemplary hardware configuration of a computer 1000 to function as the remote driving managing apparatus 100.

DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, (some) embodiment(s) of the present invention will be described. The embodiment(s) do(es) not limit the invention according to the claims, and all the combinations of the features described in the embodiment(s) are not necessarily essential to means provided by aspects of the invention.

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates an exemplary remote driving system 10. The remote driving system 10 includes a remote driving management center 12, a remotely driving vehicle 300, and a remotely driven vehicle 400. Although one remotely driving vehicle 300 is illustrated as an example in FIG. 1, the number of remotely driving vehicles 300 may be larger than one. In addition, although one remotely driven vehicle 400 is illustrated as an example in FIG. 1, the number of remotely driven vehicles 400 may be larger than one. The remote driving management center 12 includes a remote driving managing apparatus 100, and a plurality of remote driving facilities 200. Although two remote driving facilities 200 are illustrated as an example in FIG. 1, the number of remote driving facilities 200 may be three or larger.

The remote driving facilities 200 are facilities that remotely drive remotely driven vehicles 400 via a network 80. The network 80 may be any network, and for example the network 80 may include at least one of the Internet, a mobile phone network such as a so-called 3G (3rd Generation), LTE (Long Term Evolution), 4G (4th Generation), or 5G (5th Generation) network, a public wireless LAN (Local Area Network), and a private network.

The remote driving facilities 200 are facilities created to simulate driver's seats of cars, for example. A remote driving facility 200 has a manipulating unit that accepts manipulation by a driver 20 to remotely drive a remotely driven vehicle 400, and a communication unit that transmits, to the remotely driven vehicle 400, a signal corresponding to manipulation of the manipulating unit. The remote driving facility 200 is an exemplary remotely driving apparatus. The driver 20 is an exemplary remote driver. The manipulating unit includes equipment necessary for driving a vehicle such as a wheel, an accelerator pedal, a brake pedal, a shift lever, or a blinker lever. In addition, the manipulating unit may further include equipment for manipulating a car navigation system, an air conditioner, audio equipment, slide doors, a sunroof, a seat heater, or the like. The communication unit receives images of an environment around a remotely driven vehicle 400 that are captured by image-capturing units provided to the remotely driven vehicle 400. The remote driving facility 200 has a display unit that displays the images of the environment around the remotely driven vehicle 400 received by the communication unit. The driver 20 manipulates the manipulating unit while viewing the images displayed on the display unit to thereby realize remote driving of the remotely driven vehicle 400.

The remotely driving vehicle 300 is a car with a remote driving function to remotely drive a remotely driven vehicle 400 via the network 80. The remotely driving vehicle 300 may be able to be driven by manipulation of a manipulating unit provided to the remotely driving vehicle 300 (which driving is referred to as manual driving in some cases). In addition, the remotely driving vehicle 300 may support so-called automated driving.

The remotely driving vehicle 300 has a manipulating unit that accepts manipulation by a driver 30, and a communication unit that communicates with a remotely driven vehicle 400 and the remote driving managing apparatus 100. The remotely driving vehicle 300 is an exemplary remotely driving apparatus. The driver 30 is an exemplary remote driver. The manipulating unit includes equipment necessary for driving a vehicle such as a wheel, an accelerator pedal, a brake pedal, a shift lever, or a blinker lever. In addition, the manipulating unit may further include equipment for manipulating an air conditioner, audio equipment, a car navigation system, slide doors, a sunroof, a seat heater, or the like. The communication unit receives images of an environment around a remotely driven vehicle 400 that are captured by image-capturing units provided to the remotely driven vehicle 400. The remotely driving vehicle 300 has a display unit that displays the images of the environment around the remotely driven vehicle 400 received by the communication unit. The remotely driving vehicle 300 for example supports a manual driving mode and a remotely driving mode. In the manual driving mode, the remotely driving vehicle 300 travels according to manipulation of the manipulating unit, and in the remotely driving mode, the remotely driving vehicle 300 transmits, to the remotely driven vehicle 400, signals according to manipulation of the manipulating unit. The driver 30 can remotely drive the remotely driven vehicle 400 by switching the mode of the remotely driving vehicle 300 parked in a parking space at home to the remotely driving mode, for example.

The remotely driven vehicle 400 is a car supporting remote driving by a remote driving facility 200 or the remotely driving vehicle 300. In addition to supporting remote driving, the remotely driven vehicle 400 may support manual driving, and may support automated driving. When in the remote driving mode, the remotely driven vehicle 400 travels according to signals received from a remote driving facility 200 or the remotely driving vehicle 300. When in the automated driving mode, the remotely driven vehicle 400 performs travelling, stopping, turning, and so on of itself without being dependent on steering, accelerator pedal manipulation, brake pedal manipulation, gear shift manipulation, and so on by a driver, using apparatuses such as image-capturing units or radars provided to the remotely driven vehicle 400, and positional information and map information.

The remote driving managing apparatus 100 manages remote driving of the remotely driven vehicle 400 by a remotely driving apparatus. If the remote driving managing apparatus 100 receives request information requesting remote driving from the remotely driven vehicle 400, the remote driving managing apparatus 100 determines, from a plurality of remotely driving apparatuses, a remotely driving apparatus that is to be caused to execute remote driving of the remotely driven vehicle 400.

If the remote driving managing apparatus 100 determined a remotely driving apparatus that is to be caused to execute remote driving of the remotely driven vehicle 400, the remote driving managing apparatus 100 compares equipment information indicating the equipment of the remotely driven vehicle 400, and equipment information indicating equipment of the remotely driving apparatus, and presents information based on a result of the comparison to a remote driver. The remote driving managing apparatus 100 displays the information based on the result of the comparison for example on at least one of the remotely driving apparatus, and a communication terminal 700 corresponding to the remote driver. The communication terminal 700 corresponding to the remote driver may be a mobile phone such as a smart phone owned by the remote driver, a tablet terminal, or the like, for example. The remote driving managing apparatus 100 is an exemplary information processing apparatus.

The remote driving managing apparatus 100 for example associates each of a plurality of pieces of the equipment of the remotely driven vehicle 400 with each of a plurality of pieces of equipment of the remotely driving apparatus, and displays information indicating the correspondence on at least one of the remotely driving apparatus and the communication terminal 700. Thereby, it is possible to let the remote driver grasp which piece of the equipment of the remotely driving apparatus should be manipulated to manipulate which piece of the equipment of the remotely driven vehicle 400.

In addition, the remote driving managing apparatus 100 for example displays, on at least one of the remotely driving apparatus and the communication terminal 700, manipulation screen information for manipulating a piece of equipment which is included the equipment of the remotely driven vehicle 400, and corresponds to none of the pieces of the equipment of the remotely driving apparatus. The remote driving managing apparatus 100 for example receives, from the remotely driving apparatus, contents of manipulation of the manipulation screen information displayed on the remotely driving apparatus, and causes the remotely driven vehicle 400 to execute manipulation of a piece of equipment indicated by the contents of manipulation. In addition, the remote driving managing apparatus 100 for example receives, from the communication terminal 700, contents of manipulation of the manipulation screen information displayed on the communication terminal 700, and causes the remotely driven vehicle 400 to execute manipulation of a piece of equipment indicated by the contents of manipulation. Thereby, it becomes possible to manipulate a piece of equipment which is included in the equipment of the remotely driven vehicle 400, and corresponds to none of the pieces of equipment of the remotely driving apparatus.

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates an exemplary functional configuration of the remotely driven vehicle 400. The remotely driven vehicle 400 includes a contents-of-manipulation acquiring unit 402, an image-capturing unit 412, a radar device 414, a LIDAR 416, an object recognizing unit 418, an image acquiring unit 420, a wireless communication unit 430, and a vehicle control unit 440.

The contents-of-manipulation acquiring unit 402 acquires contents of manipulation of a manipulating unit provided to the remotely driven vehicle 400. For example, the contents-of-manipulation acquiring unit 402 acquires a steering angle of a wheel, a pedal pressure manipulation amount of an accelerator pedal, a pedal pressure manipulation amount of a brake pedal, or the like.

The image-capturing unit 412 for example is a digital camera utilizing a solid-state image sensor such as a CCD (Charge Coupled Device), a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor), or the like. The image-capturing unit 412 includes one or more image-capturing units that are attached to predetermined locations of the remotely driven vehicle 400. If an image of a space in front of the remotely driven vehicle 400 is to be captured, an image-capturing unit 412 is attached to a front windshield upper portion, a room mirror rear surface, or the like. An image-capturing unit 412 captures an image of an environment around the remotely driven vehicle 400 periodically repeatedly, for example. An image-capturing unit 412 may be a stereo camera.

The radar device 414 radiates radio waves such as millimeter waves around the remotely driven vehicle 400, and senses radio waves reflected on objects (reflected waves) to sense at least positions (distances, and azimuths) of the objects. The radar device 414 includes one or more radar devices that are attached to predetermined locations of the remotely driven vehicle 400. The radar device 414 may sense the position and speed of an object by an FM-CW (Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave) method.

The LIDAR 416 irradiates an environment around the remotely driven vehicle 400 with light, and measures scattered light. The LIDAR 416 senses the distance to a target based on a length of time that elapses from light-emission until light-reception. Light used for the irradiation is pulsed laser light, for example. The LIDAR 416 includes one or more LIDARs that are attached to predetermined locations of the remotely driven vehicle 400.

The object recognizing unit 418 recognizes the position, type, speed or the like of an object based on results of sensing by some or all of the image-capturing unit 412, radar device 414, and LIDAR 416. The object recognizing unit 418 outputs a result of the recognition to the vehicle control unit 440. In addition, the object recognizing unit 418 may output results of sensing by the image-capturing unit 412, radar device 414, and LIDAR 416 to the vehicle control unit 440 directly without modification as necessary.

The image acquiring unit 420 acquires images captured by the image-capturing unit 412. The wireless communication unit 430 wirelessly communicates with the remote driving managing apparatus 100, a remote driving facility 200, and the remotely driving vehicle 300 via the network 80. If the remotely driven vehicle 400 is in the remotely driven mode, the wireless communication unit 430 transmits images acquired by the image acquiring unit 420 to the remote driving managing apparatus 100, a remote driving facility 200, or the remotely driving vehicle 300. In addition, if the remotely driven vehicle 400 is in the remotely driven mode, the wireless communication unit 430 receives signals for remote driving from the remote driving managing apparatus 100, a remote driving facility 200, or the remotely driving vehicle 300, and outputs the signals to the vehicle control unit 440.

The vehicle control unit 440 controls the remotely driven vehicle 400. The vehicle control unit 440 may have a position acquiring unit that acquires the position of the remotely driven vehicle 400. The position acquiring unit receives positional information about the remotely driven vehicle 400 from a navigation apparatus provided to the remotely driven vehicle 400, for example. The navigation apparatus of the remotely driven vehicle 400 has a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) receiver, for example, and the GNSS receiver locates the position of the remotely driven vehicle 400 based on signals received from the GNSS satellite. Note that a GNSS receiver may be provided to the position acquiring unit.

The vehicle control unit 440 may acquire destination information indicating a destination of the remotely driven vehicle 400, and path information indicating a path of movement to the destination. The vehicle control unit 440 acquires the destination information and path information from the navigation apparatus provided to the remotely driven vehicle 400, for example.

The vehicle control unit 440 acquires first map information including at least map information about the path of movement indicated by the path information. The vehicle control unit 440 receives the first map information from the navigation apparatus of the remotely driven vehicle 400, for example. In addition, the vehicle control unit 440 may receive the first map information via the network 80 from a map management server that manages map information about each geographic location. The first map information is, for example, information in which road shapes are represented by links indicating roads, and nodes connected by the links. The first map information may include the curvatures of roads, POI (Point Of Interest) information, or the like. The first map information may be updated at any time.

The vehicle control unit 440 may further acquire second map information including at least map information about the path of movement indicated by the path information. Similar to the first map information, the vehicle control unit 440 may receive the second map information from the navigation apparatus of the remotely driven vehicle 400, or may receive the second map information via the network 80. The second map information is map information more precise than the first map information. The second map information includes, for example, information about the middles of lanes, information about the boundaries between lanes, or the like. In addition, the second map information may include road information, traffic regulation information, or the like. The second map information may be updated at any time.

If the remotely driven vehicle 400 is in the automated driving mode, the vehicle control unit 440 may use the position acquired by the position acquiring unit, the information received from the object recognizing unit 418, and the first map information to control travelling of the remotely driven vehicle 400. The vehicle control unit 440 may further use the second map information to control travelling of the remotely driven vehicle 400. If the remotely driven vehicle 400 is in the manual driving mode, the vehicle control unit 440 may control travelling of the remotely driven vehicle 400 according to contents of manipulation acquired by the contents-of-manipulation acquiring unit 402.

If the remotely driven vehicle 400 is in the remotely driven mode, the vehicle control unit 440 controls the remotely driven vehicle 400 according to signals that the wireless communication unit 430 receives from the remote driving managing apparatus 100, a remote driving facility 200, or the remotely driving vehicle 300.

FIG. 3 schematically illustrates an exemplary remote driving facility 200. In FIG. 3, illustration of equipment other than a wheel 214 and a pedal 216 is omitted.

The remote driving facility 200 includes a communication unit 230, a display unit 240, and a control unit 250. The communication unit 230 communicates with the remote driving managing apparatus 100. In addition, the communication unit 230 communicates with the remotely driven vehicle 400. The communication unit 230 may communicate with the remotely driven vehicle 400 via the remote driving managing apparatus 100. In addition, the communication unit 230 may communicate with the remotely driven vehicle 400 via the network 80, but not via the remote driving managing apparatus 100.

The communication unit 230 receives an image transmitted by the wireless communication unit 430 of the remotely driven vehicle 400. The display unit 240 displays the image that the communication unit 230 received from the remotely driven vehicle 400. Note that, instead of the display unit 240, the remote driving facility 200 may include a projector and a screen, and in this case the projector may project the image received by the communication unit 230 onto the screen.

The control unit 250 acquires contents of manipulation of the equipment of the remote driving facility 200, and causes the communication unit 230 to transmit signals indicating the contents of manipulation to the remotely driven vehicle 400. The control unit 250 causes the communication unit 230 to transmit a steering angle of the wheel 214, a pedal pressure manipulation amount of the pedal 216, or the like, for example.

FIG. 4 schematically illustrates an exemplary functional configuration of the remotely driving vehicle 300. The remotely driving vehicle 300 includes a contents-of-manipulation acquiring unit 302, a vehicle control unit 310, a wireless communication unit 330, and a display control unit 340.

The contents-of-manipulation acquiring unit 302 acquires contents of manipulation of a manipulating unit provided to the remotely driving vehicle 300. For example, the contents-of-manipulation acquiring unit 302 acquires a steering angle of a wheel, a pedal pressure manipulation amount of an accelerator pedal, a pedal pressure manipulation amount of a brake pedal, or the like.

If the remotely driving vehicle 300 is in the manual driving mode, the contents-of-manipulation acquiring unit 302 outputs signals indicating the acquired contents of manipulation to the vehicle control unit 310. The vehicle control unit 310 controls the remotely driving vehicle 300 according to the signals acquired from the contents-of-manipulation acquiring unit 302.

If the remotely driving vehicle 300 is in the remotely driving mode, the contents-of-manipulation acquiring unit 302 outputs the acquired contents of manipulation to the wireless communication unit 330. The wireless communication unit 330 transmits the signals acquired from the contents-of-manipulation acquiring unit 302 to the remotely driven vehicle 400 via the network 80.

If the remotely driving vehicle 300 is in the remotely driving mode, the wireless communication unit 330 receives images transmitted by the wireless communication unit 430 of the remotely driven vehicle 400, and outputs the images to the display control unit 340. The display control unit 340 causes a display unit provided to the remotely driving vehicle 300 to display the received images.

If the remotely driving vehicle 300 supports automated driving, it may further include configurations similar to the image-capturing unit 412, radar device 414, LIDAR 416, and object recognizing unit 418.

FIG. 5 schematically illustrates an exemplary functional configuration of the remote driving managing apparatus 100. The remote driving managing apparatus 100 includes a request information receiving unit 102, a remotely driving apparatus determining unit 104, an equipment information acquiring unit 112, an equipment information acquiring unit 114, an equipment information comparing unit 116, a display control unit 118, an equipment associating unit 120, a manipulation information acquiring unit 122, and a warning generating unit 124. Note that it is not necessarily essential for the remote driving managing apparatus 100 to include all these configurations.

The request information receiving unit 102 receives request information requesting remote driving of the remotely driven vehicle 400. The request information includes information identifying the remotely driven vehicle 400, and a time period in which remote driving is desired, for example. The request information receiving unit 102 receives request information from the remotely driven vehicle 400, for example. In addition, the request information receiving unit 102 receives request information from the communication terminal 700 of a driver 40 seated on the driver's seat of the remotely driven vehicle, for example.

The remotely driving apparatus determining unit 104 determines a remotely driving apparatus that is to remotely drive the remotely driven vehicle 400 in response to the request information received by the request information receiving unit 102. The remotely driving apparatus determining unit 104 for example refers to management data for managing an available remote driving time period of each remotely driving apparatus and remote driver, and determines a remotely driving apparatus and a remote driver that are to remotely drive the remotely driven vehicle 400. The remotely driving apparatus determining unit 104 transmits request information indicating a request to remotely drive the remotely driven vehicle 400 to the determined remotely driving apparatus and remote driver.

The equipment information acquiring unit 112 acquires equipment information indicating equipment of the remotely driving apparatus determined by the remotely driving apparatus determining unit 104. The equipment information acquiring unit 112 receives the equipment information from the remotely driving apparatus, for example. The equipment information acquiring unit 112 may receive equipment information about the determined remotely driving apparatus from a server managing equipment information about a plurality of remotely driving apparatuses.

The equipment information acquiring unit 114 acquires equipment information indicating the equipment of the remotely driven vehicle 400. If request information includes equipment information also, the equipment information acquiring unit 114 acquires the equipment information included in the request information. If request information does not include equipment information, the equipment information acquiring unit 114 receives equipment information from the remotely driven vehicle 400, for example. The equipment information acquiring unit 114 may receive, from a server managing equipment information about a plurality of remotely driven vehicles 400, equipment information corresponding to a remotely driven vehicle 400 that transmitted request information.

The equipment information comparing unit 116 compares equipment information acquired by the equipment information acquiring unit 112 (referred to as remotely driving apparatus equipment information in some cases), with equipment information acquired by the equipment information acquiring unit 114 (referred to as remotely driven vehicle equipment information in some cases). The display control unit 118 causes information based on a result of the comparison by equipment information comparing unit 116 to be displayed. The display control unit 118 causes the information based on the result of the comparison to be displayed on a display unit provided to the remotely driving apparatus, for example. In addition, the display control unit 118 causes the information based on the result of the comparison to be displayed on the communication terminal 700 of the remote driver, for example.

The equipment associating unit 120 associates the equipment of the remotely driven vehicle 400 with the equipment of the remotely driving apparatus based on a result of the comparison by the equipment information comparing unit 116. The equipment associating unit 120 may perform the association following a predetermined rule. For example, the equipment associating unit 120 associates the same types of equipment with each other, e.g., the wheel of the remotely driven vehicle 400 with the wheel of the remotely driving apparatus; the accelerator pedal of the remotely driven vehicle 400 with the accelerator pedal of the remotely driving apparatus; and so on. The display control unit 118 may cause information indicating the correspondence between the equipment of the remotely driven vehicle 400 and the equipment of the remotely driving apparatus to be displayed on at least one of a display unit provided to the remotely driving apparatus, and the communication terminal 700 of the remote driver.

The display control unit 118 may causes a piece of equipment which is included in the equipment of the remotely driven vehicle 400 and corresponds to any of the pieces of the equipment of the remotely driving apparatus, and a piece of equipment which is included in the equipment of the remotely driven vehicle 400 and corresponds to none of the pieces of the equipment of the remotely driving apparatus to be displayed in a distinguishable manner. The display control unit 118 may cause manipulation screen information for manipulating a piece of equipment that is included in the equipment of the remotely driven vehicle 400, and corresponds to none of the pieces of equipment of the remotely driving apparatus to be displayed.

The manipulation information acquiring unit 122 acquires manipulation information about equipment of the remotely driving apparatus determined by the remotely driving apparatus determining unit 104. If a piece of equipment provided to the remotely driving apparatus is manipulated, the remotely driving apparatus transmits manipulation information including the manipulated piece of equipment, and contents of manipulation to the remote driving managing apparatus 100, and the manipulation information acquiring unit 122 receives the manipulation information. The warning generating unit 124 issues a warning if a piece of equipment that is included in the equipment of the remotely driving apparatus, and corresponds to none of the pieces of the equipment of the remotely driven vehicle 400 is manipulated. The warning generating unit 124 transmits the warning information to at least one of the remotely driving apparatus, and the communication terminal 700 of the remote driver, for example.

FIG. 6 schematically illustrates exemplary correspondence information 500 generated by the equipment associating unit 120. The correspondence information 500 indicates a correspondence between the equipment of the remotely driven vehicle 400, and the equipment of the remotely driving apparatus. The correspondence information 500 illustrated in FIG. 6 includes remotely driven vehicle equipment information 510, remotely driving apparatus equipment information 520, and manipulation objects 530. The manipulation objects 530 represent manipulation objects for manipulating pieces of equipment which are included in the equipment of the remotely driven vehicle 400, and correspond to none of the pieces of equipment of the remotely driving apparatus.

In the example illustrated in FIG. 6, the wheel, accelerator pedal, brake pedal, side brake, and shift lever of the remotely driven vehicle correspond to the wheel, accelerator pedal, brake pedal, side brake, and shift lever of the remotely driving vehicle, respectively. In addition, slide doors, a sunroof, and a seat heater of the remotely driven vehicle correspond to none of the pieces of the equipment of the remotely driving apparatus. A slide door open/close button, a sunroof open/close button, and a seat heater button are associated with the slide doors, sunroof, and seat heater as manipulation objects for manipulating them, respectively.

FIG. 7 schematically illustrates exemplary manipulation screen information 600. The manipulation screen information 600 illustrated in FIG. 7 includes left slide door open/close buttons 610, right slide door open/close buttons 620, a sunroof open/close button 630, and a seat heater manipulation button 640. The manipulation screen information 600 is displayed on a display unit of the remotely driving apparatus, for example. For example, if the open button for the left slide door open/close button 610 in the manipulation screen information 600 is selected, the remotely driving apparatus may notify the remote driving managing apparatus 100 that the open button for the left slide door open/close button 610 is selected. According to the notification, the remote driving managing apparatus 100 transmits, to the remotely driven vehicle 400, information indicating that the open button for the left slide door open/close button 610 is selected. Upon reception of the information, the remotely driven vehicle 400 may control the left slide door to open. In this manner, by causing the manipulation screen information for manipulating pieces of equipment that are included in the equipment of the remotely driven vehicle 400, and correspond to none of the pieces of equipment of the remotely driving apparatus to be displayed on the display unit of the remotely driving apparatus or the communication terminal 700 of the remote driver, even if a piece of equipment that corresponds to a piece of the equipment of the remotely driven vehicle 400 is not provided to the remotely driving apparatus, it becomes possible to manipulate the piece of the equipment of the remotely driven vehicle 400.

Although in the above-mentioned embodiment explained, comparison between the equipment of the remotely driven vehicle 400 and the equipment of the remotely driving apparatus is performed by the remote driving managing apparatus 100, this is not the sole example, and the comparison may be performed by a control apparatus provided to a remote driving facility 200, and having the communication unit 230, and the control unit 250. In addition, the comparison may be performed by a control apparatus provided to the remotely driving vehicle 300, and having the contents-of-manipulation acquiring unit 302, vehicle control unit 310, wireless communication unit 330, and display control unit 340.

FIG. 8 schematically illustrates an exemplary functional configuration of the control apparatus 220 provided to a remote driving facility 200 that is used if the comparison between the equipment of the remotely driven vehicle 400 and the equipment of the remotely driving apparatus is performed by the control apparatus 220. The control apparatus 220 includes an equipment information storage unit 252, an equipment information acquiring unit 254, an equipment information comparing unit 256, a display control unit 258, an equipment associating unit 260, a manipulation information acquiring unit 262, and a warning generating unit 264. Note that it is not necessarily essential for the control apparatus 220 to include all these configurations.

The equipment information storage unit 252 stores equipment information indicating the equipment of the remote driving facility 200. The equipment information acquiring unit 254 acquires equipment information indicating the equipment of the remotely driven vehicle 400. The equipment information acquiring unit 254 receives the equipment information from the remotely driven vehicle 400, for example. The equipment information acquiring unit 254 may receive, from a server managing equipment information about a plurality of remotely driven vehicles 400, equipment information corresponding to the remotely driven vehicle 400.

The equipment information comparing unit 256 compares the remotely driving apparatus equipment information with the remotely driven vehicle equipment information. The display control unit 258 causes information based on a result of the comparison by equipment information comparing unit 256 to be displayed. The display control unit 258 causes the information based on the result of the comparison to be displayed on the display unit 240, for example. In addition, the display control unit 258 causes the information based on the result of the comparison to be displayed on the communication terminal 700 of the remote driver, for example.

The equipment associating unit 260 associates the equipment of the remotely driven vehicle 400 with the equipment of the remote driving facility 200 based on a result of the comparison by the equipment information comparing unit 256. The equipment associating unit 260 may associate the equipment of the remotely driven vehicle 400 with the equipment of the remote driving facility 200 by the same method as that of the equipment associating unit 120. The display control unit 258 may cause information indicating the correspondence between the equipment of the remotely driven vehicle 400 and the equipment of the remote driving facility 200 to be displayed on at least one of the display unit 240, and the communication terminal 700 of the remote driver.

The display control unit 258 may cause a piece of equipment which is included in the equipment of the remotely driven vehicle 400 and corresponds to any of the pieces of the equipment of the remote driving facility 200, and a piece of equipment which is included in the equipment of the remotely driven vehicle 400 and corresponds to none of the pieces of the equipment of the remote driving facility 200 to be displayed in a distinguishable manner. The display control unit 258 may cause manipulation screen information for manipulating a piece of equipment that is included in the equipment of the remotely driven vehicle 400, and corresponds to none of the pieces of the equipment of the remote driving facility 200 to be displayed.

The manipulation information acquiring unit 262 acquires manipulation information indicating contents of manipulation of a piece of the equipment of the remote driving facility 200. The warning generating unit 264 issues a warning if a piece of equipment that is included in the equipment of the remote driving facility 200, and corresponds to none of the pieces of the equipment of the remotely driven vehicle 400 is manipulated.

If comparison between the equipment of the remotely driven vehicle 400 and the equipment of the remotely driving apparatus is performed by a control apparatus provided to the remotely driving vehicle 300, the control apparatus may have a functional configuration similar to the functional configuration of the control apparatus illustrated in FIG. 8.

FIG. 9 schematically illustrates an exemplary computer 1000 to function as the remote driving managing apparatus 100. The computer 1000 according to the present embodiment includes: a CPU peripheral unit having a CPU 1010, a RAM 1030, and a graphics controller 1085 that are interconnected by a host controller 1092; and an input/output unit having a ROM 1020, a communication I/F 1040, a hard disk drive 1050, and an input/output chip 1080 that are connected to the host controller 1092 by an input/output controller 1094.

The CPU 1010 performs operations based on programs stored on the ROM 1020 and RAM 1030, and performs control of each unit. The graphics controller 1085 acquires image data generated by the CPU 1010 or the like on a frame buffer provided in the RAM 1030, and displays the image data on a display. Instead of this, the graphics controller 1085 may include therein a frame buffer to store image data generated by the CPU 1010 or the like.

The communication I/F 1040 communicates with another device via a network through a wired or wireless connection. In addition, the communication I/F 1040 functions as hardware to perform communication. The hard disk drive 1050 stores programs and data to be used by the CPU 1010.

The ROM 1020 stores a boot-program to be executed by the computer 1000 at the time of activation and programs or the like that depend on hardware of the computer 1000. The input/output chip 1080 connects various types of input/output devices to the input/output controller 1094 via, for example, a parallel port, a serial port, a keyboard port, a mouse port, and the like.

Programs to be provided to the hard disk drive 1050 via the RAM 1030 are provided by a user in the form stored on a recording medium such as an IC card. The programs are read out from the recording medium, installed on the hard disk drive 1050 via the RAM 1030, and executed at the CPU 1010.

The programs that are installed on the computer 1000, and make the computer 1000 function as the remote driving managing apparatus 100 may act on the CPU 1010 or the like to make the computer 1000 function as each unit of the remote driving managing apparatus 100. Information processing described in these programs are read in by the computer 1000 to thereby function as the request information receiving unit 102, remotely driving apparatus determining unit 104, equipment information acquiring unit 112, equipment information acquiring unit 114, equipment information comparing unit 116, display control unit 118, equipment associating unit 120, manipulation information acquiring unit 122, and warning generating unit 124, which are specific means attained by cooperation between software and various types of hardware resources mentioned above. Then, with these specific means, the unique remote driving managing apparatus 100 corresponding to a purpose of use of the computer 1000 in the present embodiment can be constructed by realizing operations on or processing of information corresponding to the purpose of use. Similarly, the computer 1000 may function as the control apparatus 220 provided to a remote driving facility 200. In addition, the computer 1000 may function as the control apparatus provided to the remotely driving vehicle 300.

While the embodiments of the present invention have been described, the technical scope of the invention is not limited to the above described embodiments. It is apparent to persons skilled in the art that various alterations and improvements can be added to the above-described embodiments. It is also apparent from the scope of the claims that the embodiments added with such alterations or improvements can be included in the technical scope of the invention.

The operations, procedures, steps, and stages of each process performed by an apparatus, system, program, and method shown in the claims, embodiments, or diagrams can be performed in any order as long as the order is not indicated by “prior to,” “before,” or the like and as long as the output from a previous process is not used in a later process. Even if the process flow is described using phrases such as “first” or “next” in the claims, embodiments, or diagrams, it does not necessarily mean that the process must be performed in this order.

EXPLANATION OF REFERENCE SYMBOLS

10: remote driving system; 12: remote driving management center; 20: driver; 30: driver; 40: driver seated on the driver's seat of a remotely driven vehicle; 80: network; 100: remote driving managing apparatus; 102: request information receiving unit; 104: remotely driving apparatus determining unit; 112: equipment information acquiring unit; 114: equipment information acquiring unit; 116: equipment information comparing unit; 118: display control unit; 120: equipment associating unit; 122: manipulation information acquiring unit; 124: warning generating unit; 200: remote driving facility; 214: wheel; 216: pedal; 220: control apparatus; 230: communication unit; 240: display unit; 250: control unit; 252: equipment information storage unit; 254: equipment information acquiring unit; 256: equipment information comparing unit; 258: display control unit; 260: equipment associating unit; 262: manipulation information acquiring unit; 264: warning generating unit; 300: remotely driving vehicle; 302: contents-of-manipulation acquiring unit; 310: vehicle control unit; 330: wireless communication unit; 340: display control unit; 400: remotely driven vehicle; 402: contents-of-manipulation acquiring unit; 412: image-capturing unit; 414: radar device; 416: LIDAR; 418: object recognizing unit; 420: image acquiring unit; 430: wireless communication unit; 440: vehicle control unit; 500: correspondence information; 510: remotely driven vehicle equipment information; 520: remotely driving apparatus equipment information; 530: manipulation object; 600: manipulation screen information; 610: left slide door open/close button; 620: right slide door open/close button; 630: sunroof open/close button; 640: seat heater manipulation button; 700: communication terminal; 1000: computer; 1010: CPU; 1020: ROM; 1030: RAM; 1040: communication I/F; 1050: hard disk drive; 1080: input/output chip; 1085: graphics controller; 1092: host controller; 1094: input/output controller 

What is claimed is:
 1. An information processing apparatus comprising: an equipment information acquiring unit that acquires first equipment information indicating equipment of a remotely driven vehicle which is to be remotely driven; an equipment information comparing unit that compares the first equipment information with second equipment information indicating equipment of a remotely driving apparatus that is to remotely drive the remotely driven vehicle; a display control unit that causes information based on a result of the comparison by the equipment information comparing unit to be displayed; and an equipment associating unit that associates the equipment of the remotely driven vehicle with the equipment of the remotely driving apparatus, wherein the display control unit causes manipulation screen information for manipulating a piece of equipment which is included in the equipment of the remotely driven vehicle and corresponds to none of pieces of the equipment of the remotely driving apparatus to be displayed; wherein the display control unit causes a display provided to the remotely driving apparatus to display the manipulation screen information, and the information processing apparatus receives a content of manipulation of the manipulation screen information from the remotely driving apparatus, and causes the remotely driven vehicle to execute manipulation of equipment indicated by the content of manipulation.
 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit causes a display provided to the remotely driving apparatus to display the information based on the result of the comparison.
 3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit causes a communication terminal corresponding to a remote driver that is to remotely drive the remotely driven vehicle using the remotely driving apparatus to display the information based on the result of the comparison.
 4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an equipment associating unit that associates the equipment of the remotely driven vehicle with the equipment of the remotely driving apparatus, wherein the display control unit causes information indicating a correspondence between the equipment of the remotely driven vehicle and the equipment of the remotely driving apparatus to be displayed.
 5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the equipment associating unit associates a piece of the equipment of the remotely driven vehicle with a piece of the equipment of the remotely driving apparatus which is of the same type as the piece of the equipment of the remotely driven vehicle.
 6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the display control unit causes manipulation screen information for manipulating a piece of equipment which is included in the equipment of the remotely driven vehicle and corresponds to none of pieces of the equipment of the remotely driving apparatus to be displayed.
 7. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising a warning generating unit that issues a warning if a piece of equipment which is included in the equipment of the remotely driving apparatus and corresponds to none of pieces of the equipment of the remotely driven vehicle is manipulated.
 8. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the manipulation screen information includes a button for manipulating a piece of equipment which is included in the equipment of the remotely driven vehicle and corresponds to none of the pieces of the equipment of the remotely driving apparatus.
 9. An information processing apparatus comprising: an equipment information acquiring unit that acquires first equipment information indicating equipment of a remotely driven vehicle which is to be remotely driven; an equipment information comparing unit that compares the first equipment information with second equipment information indicating equipment of a remotely driving apparatus that is to remotely drive the remotely driven vehicle; a display control unit that causes information based on a result of the comparison by the equipment information comparing unit to be displayed; and an equipment associating unit that associates the equipment of the remotely driven vehicle with the equipment of the remotely driving apparatus, wherein the display control unit causes manipulation screen information for manipulating a piece of equipment which is included in the equipment of the remotely driven vehicle and corresponds to none of pieces of the equipment of the remotely driving apparatus to be displayed; wherein the display control unit causes a communication terminal corresponding to a remote driver that is to remotely drive the remotely driven vehicle using the remotely driving apparatus to display the manipulation screen information, and the information processing apparatus receives a content of manipulation of the manipulation screen information from the communication terminal, and causes the remotely driven vehicle to execute manipulation of equipment indicated by the content of manipulation.
 10. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an equipment associating unit that associates the equipment of the remotely driven vehicle with the equipment of the remotely driving apparatus; and a warning generating unit that issues a warning if a piece of equipment which is included in the equipment of the remotely driving apparatus and corresponds to none of pieces of the equipment of the remotely driven vehicle is manipulated.
 11. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit causes a piece of equipment which is included in the equipment of the remotely driven vehicle and corresponds to any of pieces of the equipment of the remotely driving apparatus, and a piece of equipment which is included in the equipment of the remotely driven vehicle and corresponds to none of the pieces of the equipment of the remotely driving apparatus to be displayed in a distinguishable manner.
 12. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the remotely driving apparatus is a car with a remote driving function to remotely drive the remotely driven vehicle. 